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Nice Japanese Brunch

12:28 PM

I probably already joined every single quizzes or competition that existed but none of them turned out the way that I want. One time I joined Aline Chandra from Foolosophy giveaway. I expect nothing since I'm not good at these kind of things but somehow, I won. She gave me a 'Buy One Get One' brunch voucher from Huize Van Wely. Excited? Definitely! Thank you Aline for the voucher!

Huize Van Wely is a famous Dutch patisserie that offers hand-made chocolates, bonbons, truffles and other delightful sweets and also some savory biscuits. I always knew Huize Van Wely sells cakes and sweets (because that is the reason they are so famous, obviously) but never knew that they have dining menu too. Without any hesitation, I asked Citra (my friend) to accompany me to have a lovely buffet brunch there. How was it? It was way better than I expected.

We arrived at 2.30 in the afternoon while the buffet brunch supposed to end at 3PM. I was worried that we couldn't eat there because of the time left. I can imagine a bunch of annoyed waiters looking at both of us, wanting our brunch to end soon. However the staffs still greet and welcome us with their most warm smile and still gave us the best service they could offer. This gave me an instant great first impression of Huize Van Wely.

The other thing that I noticed about Huize Van Wely was how gorgeous and sleek the interior was. Dominated with greyish and woody furniture, I feel like I could stay there forever. I remember there were white orchids in every corner of the indoor dining area, making the room feel pretty and comfortable. On the other hand, the semi-outdoor dining area was filled with a bunch of sofa with grey and blue feeling to it. The big glass wall let a part of the sun shine through and make me want to stay there forever.

Oh I also love the cakes and sweets display there. The cakes was decorated in a beautiful way and the sweets was hard too resist. As a dessert freak, my eyes popped instantly the moment I saw this. I feel like a child in a candy store.

I chose a glass of Lychee Ice Tea to accompany me munching those delicious food. It has a decent tea flavor with a hint of lychee flavor to it. Not too lychee-ish or tea-ish, just a nice balance.

When we were there, the buffet was Japanese food. The food selection was not as much as I expected and some of them almost run out. I asked the waiter about the food selection, was it always just a few dish like this or was it because we were late? He said that it was always just a few dish selection but with a high quality ingredients and great taste guaranteed in every bites. And that waiter was right.

I tried all of the food that still left for us to be eaten and the taste was amazing. I remember eating the soba soup with tempura then fall in love with it instantly. I love the clear broth and tasty fragrant that comes from it. The soup has this deep beefy taste but somehow felt so light in my tongue. The texture of the soba itself was chewy in a good way, while the tempura was crispy and not too oily. The same feeling goes with the oden too but with lighter and slightly salty soup taste.

There are also a few slices of beef yakiniku and salmon teriyaki left for us. The beef yakiniku was tender, juicy and seasoned perfectly. And as far as I remember, the beef slices was served with just a few of fatty meat on it. How wonderful is that?

The salmon teriyaki was paired with a scoop of mashed potato on the sides. The salmon teriyaki itself was a little bit too sweet for me. The mashed potato was good and creamy but need a little bit more pepper to meet my standard of how a mashed potato should be. But to Citra, the salmon teriyaki and the mashed potato was just fine.

They have a mini dorayaki and black sesame mousse for the desserts. The mini dorayaki came in a crane plate with a mini mochi on the side. For a dessert freak like me, the mini dorayaki was way too tiny and I can hardly taste anything. The moment we ate it, both Citra and I looked at each other and gave the same 'what is this?' look. The red bean paste inside of it was given too little. But the mochi was quite nice though.

However the black sesame mousse was a champ! The mousse was so smooth and silky. It has this sweet taste but somehow blends with the bitterness of the black sesame. We both love it even we hurried ourselves to get another round of it before the waiters clean it up.

Overall I'm happy with my brunch that day. I didn't expect much since I came very late in the afternoon (blame it to the university thingy) and I was that close to not using the voucher that Aline gave. Either for another dining experience or just hanging around for some tea, I certainly will come back again to Huize Van Wely at The Papilion. Besides, the cakes and sweets on the display been calling my name over and over again.